Aurigny back supporting Newquay-London flights

Aurigny chairman Kevin George said helping Skybus would add scale to Aurigny

Guernsey airline Aurigny has returned to providing ground handling services for flights between Newquay and London Gatwick.

Skybus agreed a short-term deal to run the service between Cornwall and London, which launched on Sunday, following the collapse of Eastern Airways.

Aurigny, which provided the same services to Eastern Airways, said the service was operated as a Passenger Service Obligation (PSO) to "provide vital air connectivity for a remote community".

It said it was working with Skybus to support the service without redirecting or using any of its aircraft or Guernsey-based resources and its contract came into effect on Sunday.

Aurigny chairman Kevin George said: "The aircraft is... chartered in from an airline called Ascend Airways to operate the route, we're assisting Skybus with that in terms of operating license but it's Ascend's crew."

He said if Skybus was successful in getting the long term PSO for the Newquay to Gatwick route "a dedicated aircraft" would be brought in, but "it will have no impact at all upon Aurigny's services".

Mr George said: "It financially assists Aurigny and probably most importantly it adds some scale so it would be another aircraft that's within the Aurigny fold and by building that scale then you become more resilient and economically more efficient."